Caulaincourt Square Hostel — Hotel in Paris

If you don't need fancy, but are looking for simple & clean, this is the ticket.

I've been wanting to stay here for years & it lived up to the hype!

This is a hostel with single & double rooms. My review is for a single.

It's nice & clean, most workers are really nice, except for one guy mentioned below. I had a problem with my bathroom sink backing up on day 5; it was fixed that day. It's small but serviceable and not a bad price! I paid about $110/night by paying at the hotel when I arrived. I'd also added an extra night to the beginning & prepaid $85.79, so it was about 22% cheaper to pay in advance.

-Hotel Amenities- The single room (#30) consisted of a single bed, a desk & a chair, a small side table, 4 hangers & a hanging area, 1 hook high on the wall to hang a coat, 3 lower hooks by the shower for towels or laundry bag. There are several outlets including phone charging ports by the desk (but these don't work so well but I did report it) & by the baseboard behind the side table. It included a radiator that you could turn on full blast or turn off completely. The heat seemed to run on timed intervals. You could also open the window to cool down the room. I would sometimes put my water bottles or bottles of wine on the ledge to keep cool.

The hostel has wifi & a TV.

You can have use of the iron & a hair dryer. My room had its own shower & toilet (including toilet cleaner & brush).

It's cleaned daily, garbage is taken out daily, towels are changed daily & my room had a view of the typical Montmartrois stairs.

Free continental breakfast is offered & includes as much hot coffee (in an urn) or hot tea (tea kettle & tea bags) as you want, hot milk, cold milk & cereal, orange juice, croissants & mini baguettes from the local award-winning baker on the square, Maison Lardeux. Breakfast runs from 8-10am on the weekends & 7:30-9:30am on weekdays.

There is a communal area with a fridge where you can keep a few items (this is where I kept my leftovers), a microwave, a 2-burner stove, plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, pots, pans, & cooking utensils. The communal area is open until 1am. In the evenings, people quietly hang out drinking, doing research, or eating.

All in all, it didn't feel like a hostel, except for having a convenient communal area.

-Bank- A BNP Paribus bank with an inside ATM sits about 2 blocks east of the hotel (near the Lamarck-Caulaincourt station de Métro).

-Grocers- There's a G20 grocery store across the street, a Franprix about a block away on rue  Caulaincourt, a Carrefour Market about a 5-minute walk down some stairs & the street, & for fancier snacks (say, for les piques-niques) there is an Epi Epicerie across the street from Carrefour Market. Carrefour Market had Châteauneuf-du-Pape for less than 20€, cette incroyable! There's also a Nicolas wine shop on rue Caulaincourt.

A prize-winning bakery (Maison Lardeux) sits at the end of the square & this is where the hotel gets it croissants & mini baguettes, which are QUITE good. Just a few stores further is an Arnaud Larher, known for its chocolates

-Laundry- Between the two is a laundromat, Laverie Libre Service, that charges 4€/5kg load.

I did laundry in my hotel room either in the sink or in the shower, wrung it out well or rolled it in one of the towels & stepped on it to further wring out the moisture, then used a Rick Steves travel laundry line to drip dry IN the shower. If after a day they needes further drying, I'd turn on the room's radiator to steam dry the clothes.

-Transportation- #80 bus stop sits in front the laundromat & it has a digital sign that lets you know when the next bus arrives.

Métro Lamarck-Caulaincourt is about 400 steps away.

-Negatives- On weekends you can hear people talking loudly on the Square Caulaincourt steps, so I wore ear plugs.

Also, one male worker with grey hair was a bit crotchety & unfriendly who also misinformed me about the recycling. However, one of the female desk clerks said that was strictly for garbage, but I could try my look with the bins on the street, so...

We stayed for three days at the Caulaincourt Square Hotel.||Positive aspects:|– The staff is generally friendly and helpful, and the location is very convenient.|– It takes only a few minutes to reach the main tourist attractions; both Sacré-Cœur and the Montmartre Cemetery are within walking distance, and the nearest metro station is about a 15-minute walk away.||Negative aspects:|– The breakfast is rather disappointing. Guests receive a small basket containing one croissant and a small bread roll, and you can choose along with two types of packaged jam and butter, and three varieties of cereal. There is also coffee, milk, hot water, and ready-made orange juice. That’s all — no cheese, sausage, fresh jam, eggs, or sweets, and no refills of bread or croissants. This cannot be considered a continental breakfast as advertised. The breakfast room is also quite cramped. |– In addition, Booking.com charges an extra €7 per day for breakfast, even though it is listed as free on the hotel’s own website.|– The rooms are quite small. The bathroom measures roughly one square meter and includes a compact shower cabin. Some signs of wear are visible (for example, chipped porcelain on the special showerhead), though this is not a major issue.|– The hotel is very noisy; sounds from neighboring rooms and the street are easily heard.||Summary: A small, well-located city hotel with friendly staff, but clear shortcomings in comfort...

We stayed for three days at the Caulaincourt Square Hotel.

Positive aspects: – The staff is generally friendly and helpful, and the location is very convenient. – It takes only a few minutes to reach the main tourist attractions; both Sacré-Cœur and the Montmartre Cemetery are within walking distance, and the nearest metro station is about a 15-minute walk away.

Negative aspects: – The breakfast is rather disappointing. Guests receive a small basket containing one croissant and a small bread roll, and you can choose along with two types of packaged jam and butter, and three varieties of cereal. There is also coffee, milk, hot water, and ready-made orange juice. That’s all — no cheese, sausage, fresh jam, eggs, or sweets, and no refills of bread or croissants. This cannot be considered a continental breakfast as advertised. The breakfast room is also quite cramped. – In addition, Booking.com charges an extra €7 per day for breakfast, even though it is listed as free on the hotel’s own website. – The rooms are quite small. The bathroom measures roughly one square meter and includes a compact shower cabin. Some signs of wear are visible (for example, chipped porcelain on the special showerhead), though this is not a major issue. – The hotel is very noisy; sounds from neighboring rooms and the street are easily heard.

Summary: A small, well-located city hotel with friendly staff, but clear shortcomings in comfort...